Children deeply affected by 2 years of war: aid worker
Tess Ingram, a spokesperson for UNICEF in Gaza City, says people are returning home after the announcement of a ceasefire to find entire neighbourhoods lacking the food, water and clothing needed to survive the coming winter.
Tess Ingram, a UNICEF spokesperson, echoed Abu Sharekh’s comments while also speaking with News Network.
“People are picking through rubble, trying to figure out the best way to move forward and the needs in that sense are immense, particularly for children,” said Ingram, who is in Gaza and has been travelling to the territory since January 2024.
She said the levels of distress have increased significantly since then because of the “intensity and the duration of the conflict.”
“A child’s life is now impacted from multiple angles. An injured child might also be orphaned, might also be malnourished. A displaced child might also have severe mental health need.”
UNICEF is working to provide children with winter clothes and shoes, she added. All of the children Ingram spoke with said they wanted to go back to school.
She said that will be a priority in rebuilding, to “get them back in the classroom, get them learning again and open up their opportunities for the future,” but “it’s going to take months to meet people’s immediate needs, and then of course years to respond to the damage that has been done here.”
